Maizuru Naval District
Encyclopedia
was one of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy
. Its territory included the entire Sea of Japan
coastline from northern Kyūshū
to western Hokkaidō
.
and its potential for development into a military port for operations in the Sea of Japan towards Korea
, Russia
and even China
was early recognized by the Imperial Japanese Navy. During the administrative re-organization of the Navy in 1889, Maizuru was designated as the headquarter of the Fourth Naval District , and its harbor was dredged, a breakwater
constructed and docking facilities for warship
s were established.
With the First Sino-Japanese War
, the port was fortified with the addition of heavy coastal artillery
. However, the naval bases at Sasebo
and Kure
were geographically more convenient for the Navy during the war, and received the bulk of the Navy's attention and funding. Although naval repair facilities and shipyards Maizuru Naval Arsenal
were opened in 1903, the mountainous terrain around Maizuru port proved an impediment to expansion, and the area languished as somewhat of a backwater.
This continued even through the Russo-Japanese War
, despite Maizuru's more convenient location to the center of that conflict. In the post-war period, with Korea in Japanese hands, and the threats from Russia and China very much diminished, there were discussions about closing the military port. Although Maizuru was one of the largest military shipyards in Japan (specializing in destroyer
construction), the Washington Naval Treaty
of 1923 also considerably reduced the demand for warship construction, and its facilities were largely mothballed until 1936.
With the Pacific War
, Maizuru was reactivated as a recruiting, training, and logistical support district. It was also a base for one of the Japan's Special Naval Landing Forces, and a Naval Air Station. Maizuru was also the location of the Imperial Japanese Navy Engineering Academy.
The area today is occupied in part by facilities of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, which has preserved a portion of the original red brick gates and couple of buildings as commemorative museums.
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
. Its territory included the entire Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
coastline from northern Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
to western Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
.
History
The strategic importance of the location of MaizuruMaizuru, Kyoto
is a city located in Kyōto, Japan, on an inlet of the Sea of Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 89,626 and the density of 264 persons per km². The total area is .The city was founded on May 27, 1943....
and its potential for development into a military port for operations in the Sea of Japan towards Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and even China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
was early recognized by the Imperial Japanese Navy. During the administrative re-organization of the Navy in 1889, Maizuru was designated as the headquarter of the Fourth Naval District , and its harbor was dredged, a breakwater
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
constructed and docking facilities for warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s were established.
With the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
, the port was fortified with the addition of heavy coastal artillery
Coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications....
. However, the naval bases at Sasebo
Sasebo, Nagasaki
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...
and Kure
Kure, Hiroshima
is a city in Hiroshima prefecture, Japan.As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 240,820 and a population density of 681 persons per km². The total area is 353.74 km².- History :...
were geographically more convenient for the Navy during the war, and received the bulk of the Navy's attention and funding. Although naval repair facilities and shipyards Maizuru Naval Arsenal
Maizuru Naval Arsenal
was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. -History:The Maizuru Naval District was established at Maizuru, Kyoto in 1889, as the fourth of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the Japanese home islands. After the establishment of the...
were opened in 1903, the mountainous terrain around Maizuru port proved an impediment to expansion, and the area languished as somewhat of a backwater.
This continued even through the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
, despite Maizuru's more convenient location to the center of that conflict. In the post-war period, with Korea in Japanese hands, and the threats from Russia and China very much diminished, there were discussions about closing the military port. Although Maizuru was one of the largest military shipyards in Japan (specializing in destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
construction), the Washington Naval Treaty
Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...
of 1923 also considerably reduced the demand for warship construction, and its facilities were largely mothballed until 1936.
With the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, Maizuru was reactivated as a recruiting, training, and logistical support district. It was also a base for one of the Japan's Special Naval Landing Forces, and a Naval Air Station. Maizuru was also the location of the Imperial Japanese Navy Engineering Academy.
The area today is occupied in part by facilities of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, which has preserved a portion of the original red brick gates and couple of buildings as commemorative museums.
Commanding Officers
- Fleet Admiral Marquis Heihachiro Togo (1 Oct 1901 - 19 Oct 1903)
- Admiral Baron Sonojo Hidaka (19 Oct 1903 - 28 Aug 1908)
- Admiral Shichiro Kataoka (28 Aug 1908 - 18 Jan 1911)
- Admiral Baron Sotaro Misu (18 Jan 1911 - 25 Sep 1913)
- Admiral Baron Rokuro Yashiro (25 Sep 1913 - 17 Apr 1914)
- Vice-Admiral Hajime Sakamoto (17 Apr 1914 - 13 Dec 1915)
- Admiral Matahachiro Nawa (13 Dec 1915 - 1 Dec 1917)
- Admiral Takeshi TakarabeTakarabe Takeshi- Notes :...
(1 Dec 1917 - 1 Dec 1918) - Admiral Kaneo Nomaguchi (1 Dec 1918 - 1 Dec 1919)
- Admiral Teijro Kuroi (1 Dec 1919 - 16 Aug 1920)
- Vice-Admiral Tetsutaro Sato (16 Aug 1920 - 1 Dec 1921)
- Admiral Kozaburo Oguri (1 Dec 1921 - 1 Apr 1923)
- Vice-Admiral Hanroku Saito (1 Apr 1923 - 1 Jun 1923)
- Admiral Saburo Hyakutake (1 Jun 1923 - 4 Oct 1924)
- Vice-Admiral Shigetsugu Nakazato (4 Oct 1924 - 1 Jun 1925)
- Vice-Admiral Shinzaburo Furukawa (1 Jun 1925 - 10 Dec 1926)
- Vice-Admiral Koshiro Otani (10 Dec 1926 - 16 May 1928)
- Vice-Admiral Nobutaro Iida (16 May 1928 - 10 Dec 1928)
- Vice-Admiral Tamaki Tosu (10 Dec 1928 - 11 Nov 1929)
- Vice-Admiral Junichi Kiyokawa (11 Nov 1929 - 1 Dec 1930)
- Admiral Nobumasa Suetsugu (1 Dec 1930 - 1 Dec 1931)
- Vice-Admiral Naotaro Ominato (1 Dec 1931 - 1 Dec 1932)
- Vice-Admiral Shinjiro Imamura (1 Dec 1932 - 15 Sep 1933)
- Admiral Gengo HyakutakeGengo Hyakutakewas a career officer and admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy.-Biography:Born to a low-ranking samurai of Saga Domain, Hyakutake’s elder brother Saburō Hyakutake was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and his younger brother Harukichi Hyakutake was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army...
(15 Sep 1933 - 15 Nov 1934) - Vice-Admiral Hajime Matsushita (15 Nov 1934 - 2 Dec 1935)
- Admiral Koichi ShiozawaKoichi Shiozawa-External links:* - Notes :...
(2 Dec 1935 - 1 Dec 1936) - Vice-Admiral Kamezaburo Nakamura (1 Dec 1936 - 1 Dec 1937)
- Vice-Admiral Manbei Idemitsu (1 December 1937 - 15 November 1938)
- Vice-Admiral Eikichi Katagiri (15 Nov 1938 - 15 Nov 1939)
- Vice-Admiral Goro Hara (15 Nov 1939 - 15 Apr 1940)
- Vice-Admiral Sonosuke Kobayashi (15 Apr 1940 - 14 Jul 1942)
- Vice-Admiral Masaichi Niimi (14 Jul 1942 - 1 Dec 1943)
- Vice-Admiral Denshichi Okawachi (1 Dec 1943 - 1 Apr 1944)
- Vice-Admiral Kakusaburo Makita (1 Apr 1944 - 1 Mar 1945)
- Vice-Admiral Minoru Tayui (1 Mar 1945 - 30 Nov 1945)
Chief of Staff
- Vice-Admiral Baron Tokutaro Nakamizo (1 Oct 1901 - 12 Mar 1902)
- Rear-Admiral Ichiro Nijima (12 Mar 1902 - 10 May 1905)
- Rear-Admiral Shinjiro Uehara (10 May 1905 - 7 Apr 1906)
- Rear-Admiral Arinobu Matsumoto (7 Apr 1906 - 22 Nov 1906)
- Vice-Admiral Suetaka Ijichi (22 Nov 1906 - 15 May 1908)
- Admiral Baron Sadakichi Kato (15 May 1908 - 9 Apr 1910)
- Vice-Admiral Kensuke Wada (9 Apr 1910 - 1 Dec 1911)
- Rear-Admiral Juzaburo Ushida (1 Dec 1911 - 1 Dec 1912)
- Rear-Admiral Seinosuke Togo (1 Dec 1912 - 1 Apr 1913)
- Vice-Admiral Tomojiro Chisaka (1 Apr 1913 - 1 Dec 1913)
- Vice-Admiral Yasujiro Nagata (1 Dec 1913 - 1 Dec 1914)
- Rear-Admiral Eitaro Kataoka (1 Dec 1914 - 1 Apr 1915)
- Rear-Admiral Tokutaro Hiraga (1 Apr 1915 - 1 Apr 1916)
- Rear-Admiral Yushichi Kanno (1 Apr 1916 - 1 Dec 1917)
- Rear-Admiral Masaki Nakamura (1 Dec 1917 - 25 Sep 1918
- Vice-Admiral Kenzo Kobayashi (25 Sep 1918 - 10 Nov 1918)
- Rear-Admiral Hisamori Taguchi (10 Nov 1918 - 10 Nov 1920)
- Vice-Admiral Kosaburo Uchida (10 Nov 1920 - 1 Dec 1922)
- Vice-Admiral Yukichi Shima (1 Dec 1922 - 1 Dec 1923)
- Rear-Admiral Tanin Ikeda (1 Dec 1923 - 1 Dec 1924)
- Admiral Zengo Yoshida (1 Dec 1924 - 15 Apr 1925)
- Vice-Admiral Shigeru Matsuyama (20 Nov 1925 - 1 Dec 1926)
- Rear-Admiral Shiba Shibayama (1 Dec 1926 - 10 Dec 1928)
- Vice-Admiral Yutaka Arima (10 Dec 1928 - 1 May 1929)
- Vice-Admiral Shigeru Kokuno (1 May 1929 - 1 Nov 1930)
- Vice-Admiral Umataro Tanimoto (1 Nov 1930 - 1 Dec 1931)
- Rear-Admiral Fuchina Iwaihara (1 Dec 1931 - 15 Nov 1933)
- Rear-Admiral Shigekazu Nakamura (15 Nov 1933 - 16 Nov 1936)
- Vice-Admiral Ichiro Ono (16 Nov 1936 - 25 Sep 1937)
- Vice-Admiral Kanji Ugaki (25 Sep 1937 - 22 Oct 1938)
- Vice-Admiral Morikazu Osugi (22 Oct 1938 - 15 Nov 1939)
- Vice-Admiral Kiyohide Shima (15 Nov 1939 - 15 Oct 1940)
- Vice-Admiral Naomasa Sakonjo (15 Oct 1940 - 11 Aug 1941)
- Rear-Admiral Kiyoshi Hamada (11 Aug 1941 - 10 Jun 1942)
- Rear-Admiral Sokichi Takagi (10 Jun 1942 - 25 Sep 1943)
- Rear-Admiral Akira Sone (25 Sep 1943 - 11 Sep 1944)
- Rear-Admiral Shinichi Torigoe (25 Sep 1944 - Sep 1945)
See also
- Kure Naval DistrictKure Naval Districtwas the second of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the Inland Sea of Japan and the Pacific coasts of southern Honshū from Wakayama to Yamaguchi prefectures, eastern and northern Kyūshū and Shikoku....
- Sasebo Naval DistrictSasebo Naval Districtwas the third of five main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the western and southern coastline of Kyūshū, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and Korea, as well as patrols in the East China Sea and the Pacific...
- Yokosuka Naval DistrictYokosuka Naval Districtwas the first of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included Tokyo Bay and the Pacific coasts of central and northern Honshū from the Kii Peninsula to Shimokita Peninsula.-History:...
- Ōminato Guard DistrictOminato Guard DistrictThe was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in northern Honshu before and during World War II. Located in Mutsu Bay, The was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in northern Honshu before and during World War II. Located in Mutsu Bay, The was the major navy base for...